Mumbai: Worldwide Media, a Times Group company, which owns popular Bollywood magazine Filmfare is set to recognise the content being produced for digital space with the launch of its new awards property for short films.
This acknowledgement by Filmfare is sure to put the Digital Content creators on par with the Movie makers in the prestigious platform.
The Jury team for Film Fare Short Film Awards 2017 comprises Gauri Shinde, Karan Johar, Meghna Gulzar, Vidya Balan, Zoya Akhtar and Kabir Khan and The winners will be announced via Facebook Live – a first of its kind – and honoured with a Black Lady at Filmfare Awards ceremony on 14th January.
The company has roped in Reliance Jio as the title sponsor and Facebook India as partner for the property. “Filmfare Awards are recognised as the biggest Indian film award for many years now. Looking at the next phase, we feel it has to be in the digital and mobile space,” said Deepak Lamba, CEO at Worldwide Media.
Short films, once a niche product more suited for the festival circuit, have seen a spurt in popularity of late, especially over internet, and many content creators are trying their hand at it now. The Jio Filmfare Short Film Awards “is our way of gratifying the good narrative that does not make it to the large screens,” Lamba said.
A Reliance Jio spokesperson said people would increasingly consume content via the visual medium and Filmfare’s efforts to encourage talent in this space would provide strong support to the digital movement.
The organisers received more than 1,000 entries, of which 43 have been shortlisted for the awards.
On December 10, when Meghna Gulzar and Filmfare editor Jitesh Pillai went live on Facebook page to discuss and announce the shortlisted movies, the event registered over 94,000 unique visitors.
Filmfare is collecting votes online though a short films microsite, where people can also view the films. Within two days of the announcement, the site registered over 6,500 votes.
